Seven MH370 passengers' families get RM160,000 each

PUTRAJAYA: Six Malaysian families and a family from China have received US$50,000 (RM160,000) per claimant as advanced payment from insurance claims over their missing members in the vanished MH370 flight.

A final payment will be paid out after the search and recover (SAR) mission for the Malaysia Airlines craft comes to a conclusion, said Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin, who chairs the MH370 next-of-kin committee.

Forty more claimants, on behalf of missing Chinese passengers are being verified by the Chinese government, he told a press conference after his committee met here yesterday.

“That’s what we are ready to pay, including for all crew members,” he said, when asked if all 239 people on board the plane would be receiving the same advanced payment.

He said most claimants from other countries had appointed their own lawyers, adding: “We are dealing with them.”

It has been more than three months since the Beijing-bound Boeing jetliner disappeared after leaving the KL International Airport on March 8.

Among those on board were 12 crew members and 153 Chinese citizens. The other passengers were from Malaysia and various other countries.

On May 7, two months into the SAR mission, MAS closed down its family assistance centres around the world after admitting it would be a prolonged process.

The airlines had since updated the next-of-kin of those on board via other channels, including telephone calls, text and e-mail messages and face-to-face meetings.

“I have been meeting some of these family members individually and the welfare department has held 43 sessions to meet them over certain issues.

“In other countries, our ambassadors have met with them (the next-of-kin).

“In Beijing, almost every day, we would receive about 20 calls and an average of 30 families would visit us,” said Hamzah.

“I am open to meeting up with the families if they are open with me,” he said in regards to a mass-funded drive to raise US$5mil (RM16mil) to seek information on the missing flight.

The “Reward MH370” initiative was reportedly coordinated by an Australian who had rallied a group of next-of-kin under the so-called Voice 370 banner. He has no relation with any of the missing passengers.